Minnesota head coach Richard Pitino yells to his team during the first half of an NCAA college exhibition basketball game, Monday, Nov. 4, 2013, in Minneapolis. Minnesota won 101-67. (AP Photo/Paul Battaglia)

There’s no superstar treatment when it comes to how first-year Gophers coach Richard Pitino handles his best player. He gets chewed out or benched just like anyone else.

Andre Hollins, the University of Minnesota’s leading scorer, learned that the hard way when he ran the wrong play on the first possession of Saturday’s 80-65 win over New Orleans.

Pitino benched the junior guard nine seconds into the game, telling him, “You can’t have that lapse from a captain,” Hollins said.

Of course, Pitino said it wasn’t a big deal and Hollins ended up leading the team with 18 points.

So far, the Gophers (8-2), who play South Dakota State (4-6) Tuesday at Williams Arena, have been able to deal with criticism from their coach much better than last season. They’re responding and being productive. It helps that captains Andre and Austin Hollins and Maverick Ahanmisi have bought into Pitino’s coaching style, which sets an example for the rest of the team.

“Coach (Tubby) Smith was a yeller, and he really tried to motivate us,” senior Austin Hollins said. “When necessary, Coach Pitino gets on us. I’ve said that a lot, that he has good balance between yelling and praising. I think he does a good job of that.”

Pitino, 31, might seem like a cool big brother in the way he can relate to his players because of his age. But he set the tone before the season as to how he wanted each player to improve. He wrote it in his blog on the team website. He was as honest about their strengths and weaknesses in writing as he is in person on the court.

“That’s the way we run things,” Pitino said. “There’s not normally a lot of resistance. I’m the coach; they’re the players. I wouldn’t like them to yell back at me. You know Andre Hollins, you’ll yell at him and he smiles at you. I’ll say, ‘Why are you smiling at me?’ But they’ve all been really, really easy to coach. For Year 1, it’s been not easy, but they’re fun to be around on a daily basis.”

Ahanmisi, a senior point guard, wasn’t smiling when he sat on the bench for the first two games of the Maui Invitational in losses to Syracuse and Arkansas. But he didn’t let his frustration affect him when he was needed the next three games, coming off the bench to score eight points in 17 minutes in a comeback win against Chaminade in the seventh-place game in Maui.

“We’re undefeated when Mav plays, so maybe I wasn’t that smart to not play him,” Pitino joked Monday. “The way he handled that is great. That’s the way you want a captain to be. They’re all really different. Andre, Austin and Mav, they lead in different ways. Austin is kind of just the consistent steady leader, every single day, with every little drill. Andre is so nice; it’s odd how nice he is as your best player. But he also leads by example very well. Mav is pretty talkative. But they’ve all got very good demeanors. They’re really good examples, for our younger guys especially.”

Last season, seniors Trevor Mbakwe and Rodney Williams often were challenged by Smith, especially publicly, to show more leadership. It was something Smith did regularly with his seniors, but it didn’t always motivate them. That isn’t the case right now for Pitino’s players, especially his captains.

“We’ve been here a long time,” Austin Hollins said. “We understand what coach is trying to do, and we can’t take it personal. When something like that happens, we know what he expects of us, and we try to go out there and do it.”

Injury report

Pitino said senior guard Malik Smith and junior center Elliott Eliason will be available to play Tuesday after recovering from ankle injuries.

Smith, who averages 9.4 points, didn’t play against New Orleans. Eliason played just four minutes after being replaced by Mo Walker as the starting center Saturday. Eliason, the Gophers’ leader in rebounds (8.0) and blocks (2.6), likely will retain his starting spot, Pitino said.

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